


Dread

by Port



Series: Rarely Frightened [3]
Category: Gargoyles (Cartoon)
Genre: Collection: Purimgifts Day 3, Gen, world tour
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-19
Updated: 2019-03-19
Packaged: 2019-11-24 16:35:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18167567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Port/pseuds/Port
Summary: Elisa visits the underwater world of a pair of bickering Greek gods.





	Dread

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fenellaevangela](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fenellaevangela/gifts).



Elisa reclined against a stone column painted with images of chariots racing toward each other. The column was one of many that stood decoratively in a wide courtyard that sat in a neighborhood of empty stone dwellings. Dull-leaved plants held on to life all around, but they seemed not to have been tended to for many years, growing in every direction yet somehow limp. Elisa glanced dubiously upward, where weak sunlight filtered through the surface of the sea.

She sighed, impatient. Her hosts were squabbling again.

“It was my idea to stay on this island after the sea rose,” Deimos said for the fifth time. He was a man with wavy dark hair and an athletic build, and he was arguing with his brother, Phobos, who was his physical match. Both men stood as tall as Goliath, and a warm, white light emanated from their heads like a halo.

Phobos rolled his eyes. “Even if you did, I was the one whose magic made it livable beneath the waves. And it’s your fault none of our worshippers wanted to stay. You scared them away!”

Elisa had had enough. “You’re the Greek gods of fear and terror, of course people got scared away. Can you get to the part where you thought it was a good idea to give me a nightmare and kidnap me from my friends?”

The brothers turned and regarded her as though surprised she was there. They glared at each other again until Deimos threw his hands up. “Okay, that was my idea. You see,” he said to Elisa, coming to kneel by her, “I would very much like to go out into the world and see what’s happened in the last couple of millenia. My brother Phobos here thinks it’s better to stay and maintain the temple dedicated to us.”

“Why?” asked Elisa.

“It’s a temple dedicated to us!” Phobos said, waving his hands in the air. This was clearly something the brothers had been over before. “We’re minor gods in the Pantheon. We were lucky anyone wanted to sacrifice a little grain and meat in our names, much less build us a temple. Even though everyone’s gone, there’s this whole island and it’s all ours. Why would we go?”

“Anyway,” Deimos said, pointedly ignoring his brother, “I made him a bet some time ago. People go by in boats all the time. If we tried to frighten them and found someone who couldn’t be scared, then we would finally leave this place to explore the world.”

“Which is a ridiculous bet,” Phobos said. “Everybody is afraid of something.”

“Not this woman,” Deimos said. 

Finally, they were getting to the point of all this. Elisa stood. “I am definitely scared of things,” she said. “That nightmare about falling was terrifying.”

“You’re mistaking a natural fear response with actual fear,” Deimos said.

“You mean a phobia,” Phobos said.

“Yes, whatever. Are you afraid of falling, Elisa Maza?”

Elisa considered. The induced nightmare had been the first time she’d dreamed of falling, and she hung out on top of tall buildings all the time without thinking about it. “I suppose not,” she said.

“You have to be afraid of something,” Phobos said, a little desperately. “Spiders? Public speaking?”

Elisa wrinkled her nose. “Not so much. Look, you two. I can tell you’ve been cooped up for a long time, and it’s starting to get to you both. I think Deimos is right, and you should take a break from this place for a little while. But if I tell you the truth about my fears, then Phobos will win the bet and you’ll just be down here arguing forever. Do you really want that, Phobos?”

“Wait,” Deimos interjected. “Phobos, you cretin. Did you think I wanted to go away forever? This is our home. We can always come back.”

An expression of hope flashed over Phobos’ face, but was replaced by consternation. “We’ll just get seduced by the modern world, maybe even meet people we want to stay with, and then we’ll never come back.”

“It sounds like you have your own fears,” Elisa murmured.

Both brothers spun back to face her.

“I’m the god of terror,” Phobos said. “I make others afraid, especially in battle. I’m not afraid of anything.”

“No, she’s got you,” Deimos said. “You’re afraid of never coming back if we leave.”

Phobos turned and stalked off to the other side of the courtyard, where he crossed his arms and glowered at a stone column. Elisa and Deimos watched him sulk until Deimos said to Elisa, “I think I’ve got this from here. Thank you for moving us along. Do you want to go back to your skiff now?”

“Yes, please,” Elisa said. “If the sun sets before I get back, you’re going to have some angry gargoyles on your hands.”

Deimos nodded seriously. “A fearsome people indeed. With them as your friends, it’s no wonder you have no fear.”

As Deimos led her up through the water--a thankfully dry passage--Elisa considered his words and how they didn’t really bear out. She had this recurring dream that always stayed with her long after she woke with tears in her eyes. In it, she climbed the stairs to the clocktower, carrying some item she thought the gargoyles would enjoy. She opened the door and found the interior shadowed and cobwebby, the way it had been before the clan moved in and made the space into a home. None of their furniture was there, or the shelves of supplies. With her heart pounding, Elisa went out to the balcony, only to find no one posed in stone on the ledge. A layer of city dust was undisturbed on the ground. No one had been here, perhaps ever. There had never been any gargoyles. Elisa had her old life back, minus the best friends she had ever had…. Minus Goliath.

Deimos reached out a larger-than-life hand and held hers as they ascended toward the skiff. “I see I was wrong after all. I apologize for bringing such thoughts to mind.”

Elisa personally had unkind feelings about his apology, but she said, “Thank you. Luckily that’s all they are, just thoughts.” She looked upward and saw the shadow of the skiff against the sun, and confident her friends were waiting.

End.


End file.
